All people have a set of bells that accompany them through life. Some make happy notes, others make sad notes, and the bells can be combined to match any feeling or attitude imaginable. The people you pass on the street hear the bells you play the most, and although you may not know it, your life's song is taught to every new person you meet. In fact, yours could very well be someone else's favorite song.

***

There was a boy whose happy bells were never played. Every day he would walk alone to school, and everything he saw on the way would make him sad: the birds in the trees, the shapes of the clouds overhead, the sound of the rain against his umbrella.

The boy was never shown how to play his happy bells. All his life, he had only been taught the notes that brought about frowns instead of smiles, teardrops instead of laughter, loneliness instead of playfulness. In fact, he had played his sad bells for so long that his happy bells were dull and rusty. He never knew what a happy note sounded like.

***

There was a girl whose sad bells were never played. Every day she would meet with her friends and they would walk to school together, and everything she saw would make her happy: the birds in the trees, the shapes of the clouds overhead, the sound of the rain against her umbrella.

The girl had been taught all her life to see the happiness in everything around her, and so everything she knew brought her smiles, laughter and playfulness, instead of frowns, teardrops and loneliness. In fact, her sad bells were old and cracked because they had never been used.

***

One day, someone new moved into town. On his first day of school, he walked alone, but made several friends along the way. The song of the birds in the trees made him happy. The grey clouds in the sky made him a little sad. And the rain in his hair made him wish he had an umbrella.

When the new boy got to school, he met the boy whose happy bells were never used. The sight of the new boy with rain in his hair made his sad bells play, and this made the new boy's sad bells play as well. But after a while, the rain stopped and the sun came out. The new boy's frown quickly turned into a smile, and his bells began playing a happy tune.

Then the new boy met the girl whose sad bells were never used. She greeted him with a smile, and he smiled back. Just then, the sun disappeared behind a cloud, and the rain started falling again. The new boy started to get a little sad, and the girl noticed he had no umbrella. She offered to share her umbrella with the new boy, but he refused. The girl wondered what kind of person would rather stand in the rain than under an umbrella.

***

Later on, the boy who only played sad music and the girl who only played happy music were walking home, when they heard something strange. The new boy's bells were playing something they had never heard before: a mixture of happy and sad notes. When the two asked him what could possibly make him feel happy and sad at the same time, the boy pointed up at the dark rain clouds, and the cold rain that fell from them. Then he pointed to the birds in the trees, happily chirping and drinking raindrops that collected in the leaves. Then he showed how the raindrops made his shoes wet and made it hard to walk, but it also washed away the dirt from his hands and face.

The boy who only played sad music and the girl who only played happy music looked at each other. They never thought about how something could be happy and sad at the same time. For a brief moment, the boy gave a little smile, and the girl gave a little frown. They set their umbrellas down in a puddle, and the three walked home together.

The two began using the notes they had never used before, and after a while, the rust and cracks disappeared, and every bell was just as shiny and beautiful as the next.